The present invention relates to a milking plant for milking cows, which plant comprises teat cups that are connectable to the respective teats of a cow's udder, the milk obtained from each udder quarter capable of being conveyed with the aid of the said teat cups, through a separate line to a milk measuring device.
In prior art milking plants of the above-defined type, the teat cups are combined in one single milking claw, while the buffer space in the milking claw, to which space the teat cups are connected directly, comprises four separate chambers. Via four separate milk hoses the milking claw is connected to a milk meter, from which the milk can be separated or be supplied to a milk cooling tank. The four-quarter milking claw has for its object to provide a better means to maintain the udder in a healthy condition; the milk originating from an inflamed quarter has a higher conductivity than that from a healthy one. The electric conductivity of the milk can be measured for each quarter, whereafter it can be determined whether or not the milk must be separated.
Such a structure of the milking plant is not suitable when the single milking claw system is not being utilized, but a milking system wherein the teat cups are connected individually and independently of each other, e.g. by a milking robot, to the teats of the udder.